GPU deliveries for Q4 2019: Nvidia still the leader, AMD ends the year on a high note

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Analysis firm Jon Peddie Research has just released the findings of its study on GPU deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2019. Broadly speaking, AMD is progressing, while Intel and Nvidia are stagnating.

The GPU market is doing pretty well, thank you for it. This is in essence the message that the analyst firm JPR conveyed at the end of February, by publishing its estimates of graphics processor deliveries for the last quarter of 2019. Figures which are a good indicator of the general health of the PC market, since each machine now includes a GPU, whether it is a dedicated chip or a iGP associated with the processor.

A little more in detail, GPU deliveries are overall up 3.4% between the third and fourth quarter of 2019. An increase which follows two positive quarters. The number of units sold follows the same trend: 76.7 million in the 2nd quarter, 89 million in the 3rd and 93 million in the 4th quarter. However, we note that over the whole year, the market remains slightly down compared to 2018 figures. This is explained in particular by the supply failures of Intel, which strongly marked the first quarter of 2018, and which obviously had an impact on GPU deliveries according to the very classic scheme: no processors, no PC. And no PC, no GPU.

A favorable context for AMD, but a year 2020 synonymous with competition

In the match between the three players AMD, Intel and Nvidia, this last quarter of 2019 clearly turns to the advantage of AMD, which increased its shipping volumes by 22.6%. This allows the manufacturer to nibble a few points on its most direct competitor (Nvidia), since the share of Radeon graphics cards sold compared to the overall market drops to 27%, against 24% the previous quarter. There are, however, two important elements to note: first, this gain is contextual and can be explained by the numerous launches of Navi charts that have enamelled Q4 2019: RX 5500XT, 5600XT, 5700, and 5700XT. In the same way, Nvidia had achieved an excellent Q3 2019, with the launch of its RTX SUPER models. Next, let’s say again that we are talking about units shipped, and if these figures are obviously an important element, they say nothing about the gross margins achieved, which are notoriously higher at Nvidia. More generally, AMD is also undoubtedly benefiting from the breakthrough of its Ryzen chips (with iGP Vega) in the mobile sector.

Either way, Nvidia remains an overwhelming leader in the dedicated GPU market, accounting for 73% of deliveries. The year 2020 promises to be interesting from this point of view: AMD should indeed unfold its RDNA 2 architecture and enter the war of ray tracing, while Intel will try to overtake the iGPU market with its Xe cards.

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